Women's Volleyball To Co-Host Yale/Quinnipiac Tournament

Bobcats Host Army and New Hampshire, Travel to Yale The Quinnipiac University women's volleyball team will co-host the Yale/Quinnipiac Tournament on Friday, Sep. 16 and Saturday, Sep. 17. The Bobcats will host Army on Friday at 7 p.m., before traveling to Yale for a 1 p.m. match on Saturday. The tournament concludes for Quinnipiac on Saturday at 7 p.m., when the Bobcats host New Hampshire. In addition the Quinnipiac match, Yale will host New Hampshire on Friday at 7 p.m., and wrap up their part of the tournament with a 7 p.m. match on Saturday against Army.

Scouting the Army Black Knights Army enters the weekend at 7-3 on the season, having won three of four matches while hosting the West Point Challenge last weekend. The Black Knights swept Marist, and defeated both Dartmouth and NJIT by 3-1 margins. Army's lone loss on the weekend was a sweep at the hands of Arkansas. Junior Ariana Mankus leads the Black Knights in kills per set at 3.79, along with a team-high 11 service aces. Freshman Mary Vaccaro is the team's leader in assists per set with 12.05, which is good for 8th in the nation. Sophomore D.J. Phee has posted a team-leading 4.55 digs per set through Army's first ten matches.

All-Time Against Army The Bobcats are 0-3 all-time against Army, and will host the Black Knights for the first time in program history on Friday. The two teams last met on Sep. 18, 2009 in West Point, N.Y., with Army winning at home in three sets.

Scouting the New Hampshire Wildcats New Hampshire is 0-12 to start 2011, having fallen by a 3-2 margin to Harvard on Tuesday. The Wildcats lost all three matches last weekend, while hosting the Holly Young Invitational. The team was swept by Indiana State and Connecticut, and dropped a 3-1 decision to Fairfield. Senior Amy Keding leads the Wildcats with 2.80 kills per set. Junior Jansan Falcusan is the team leader in assists per set at 6.26, while junior Jessie Schnepp has posted a team-best 2.95 digs per set through New Hampshire's first 12 matches.

All-Time Against New Hampshire This is the first-ever meeting between Quinnipiac and New Hampshire.

Scouting the Yale Bulldogs Yale stands at 3-3 in the 2011 campaign to begin the weekend. The Bulldogs return home to the Nutmeg State following a weekend trip to Maryland, where the team went 1-2 at the Spring Hill suites at Arundel Mills Invitational. Yale dropped a five-set decision to the host Terrapins on Friday, Sep. 9, before splitting their two matches the following day. The Bulldogs defeated Delaware in four sets before falling to defending NEC champion Sacred Heart in four sets later in the day. Freshman Mollie Rogers leads the Bulldogs with 3.21 kills per set. Sophomore Kendall Polan is the team leader in assists per set (10.25) and service aces (7). Freshman Maddie Rudnick has tallied a team-high 3.83 digs per set through the Bulldogs first six matches.

All-Time Against Yale Quinnipiac is 0-7 all-time against the Bulldogs, including a 0-5 mark at Yale. The two teams last met on Sep. 4, 2010 at Yale, with the Bulldogs prevailing in three sets.

Milestone Moments Approaching Three Bobcats are approaching statistical milestones this season. Senior Kelby Carey (Surfside, Calif.) is well within striking distance of both 1,000 kills and digs, while junior Logan Riker (Bowling Green, Ohio) will likely reach 1,000 digs this season. Senior Kayla Lawler (Louisville, Ky.) is also well within range of 3,000 career assists, entering play this weekend at 2,926.

Acing the Test Senior Kayla Lawler (Louisville, Ky.) tallied a career-high seven service aces in Saturday's match against Navy – a match in which the Bobcats had 16 aces as a team. On the season, Lawler has recorded 20 aces, and posted a 0.59 aces per set average. Her aces per set average is good for 14th in the nation, and second in the Northeast Conference.

Welcome to the Show Freshman Tierra Allen (Sumter, S.C.) recorded a career-high 14 kills in the Bobcats' win over La Salle on Sep. 9. The next afternoon, she topped that mark, tallying 15 kills against Navy. Allen was also in double figures later in the day against Delaware State with 10 kills.

Wright-ing the Ship After an injury to starting libero Logan Riker, sophomore Tracy Wright (Fair Lawn, N.J.) was pressed into action. Wright was up to the challenge, recording 80 digs in the weekend's four matches, including a career-high 29 in the Bobcats' match against Navy on Sep. 10.

The Bobcats in the Quinnipiac/Univ. of Hartford Invitational Quinnipiac posted a 1-3 mark last weekend, playing three matches at Burt Kahn Court and one at the University of Hartford. The Bobcats picked up their first victory of 2011 on Friday with a five-set victory at home over La Salle, before dropping a pair of home matches on Saturday to Navy in five sets and Delaware State in three. Quinnipiac concluded the tournament with a three-set loss at Hartford on Sunday. Senior Kayla Lawler (Louisville, Ky.) and sophomore Tracy Wright (Fair Lawn, N.J.) were both named to the All-Tournament team.

The Bobcats At The Maryland Invitational Senior Kelby Carey had 20 kills and 20 digs on the weekend. Freshman Tierra Allen emerged with 11 of her 14 kills in the second day of the tournament. Freshman Krista Bennett had a team-high 22 digs, while junior Logan Riker was close behind with 20 digs. Senior Kayla Lawler had 58 assists, four service aces and 18 digs.

Bringin' The Payne After compiling 15 kills, eight digs and five blocks at the Loyola Marymount Invitational, Taylor Payne was named to the all-tournament team on August 27.

Who's Back For The Bobcats Quinnipiac returns a solid core of players from last year's team, including senior setter Kayla Lawler, who led the Bobcats at 8.86 assists and 0.47 service aces per set last season. Junior libero Logan Riker leads the way for the Quinnipiac defense, having averaged 4.19 digs per set last season. Kelby Carey is the Bobcats top returning hitter at 2.15 kills per set, while Olivia Grattan (0.61 b/s) and Taylor Payne (0.60 b/s) comprise a formidable blocking duo. Tracy Wright proved herself as a valuable defensive weapon, averaging 2.71 digs per set as a freshman, while fellow first-year player Ashley Kopacki contributed 0.28 service aces per set.

Aces Up The Bobcats finished 2010 ranked 15th in the nation in service aces per set (1.71). Individually, Kayla Lawler ranked 14th nationally at 0.47 per set.

Dig It Led by Logan Riker's 4.19 digs per set, the Bobcats ranked 113th in the nation at 15.46 digs per set last season.

Brave New Accomplishment Kayla Lawler became the first Quinnipiac player in nearly nine years to win NEC Player of the Week, Oct. 11, 2010, after leading the Bobcats to a weekend sweep of Robert Morris and Saint Francis (Pa.). Lawler compiled a pair of double-doubles and six service aces on the weekend. The last time a Quinnipiac player won the award, QU's mascot was the Braves. Heather Wollyung last won the award on Oct. 15, 2001, the last of her four honors. Shannon Dublin also won the award once, making Lawler the third in QU history to be honored.

Ashley's Aces Freshman Ashley Kopacki compiled a season-high six service aces against Saint Francis (Pa.) on Oct. 10, 2010. Her previous season high was three.